They're coming back to save the world!

The Comics Journal message board is home to some great discussions, but this is one of the most fun they've had in a while, largely because a) it's so damn positive and b) it jumps back and forth across the line that divides super-hero comics and the more alternative material the Journal is usually concerned with. So, in the spirit of making this a happy, more joyous blogosphere, here are a few of my favorite moments in funnybooks. Go team comics!

1. The intro page to the actual "Born Again" issue of Miller and Mazzucchelli's DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN run. Matt Murdock is hovering near death, and as the heart monitor winds down, he replays the recent awful events of his life, coming back to sanity -- and back to life. This is one of the great runs in comics in my opinion, everything a super-hero comic can be. If I had to distill the whole story down to one page, this is the one.

2. Issue 34 of Grant Morrison's DOOM PATROL, when the Brain (in an extra Robotman body) insists that Mallah (beret-wearing super-intelligent ape, you remember) take his gum out before they finally, after years of repressed love, share a passionate kiss. It's hard to explain why, but this simple act ties the whole story together beautifully. One of the best single issue stories I've ever read, by the way.

3. Maggie, Ray and Dizzy are just hanging out in someone's apartment, and the Replacements' "Valentine" is playing on the radio. Simple, perfect. (It's in the "Death of Speedy" collection.)

4. The entire, manic "trivia off" in Evan Dorkin's "Bring Me the Head of Boba Fett."

5. The Hoaxer and Flex Mentallo save, well, everything -- including you and me -- at the end of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's FLEX MENTALLO mini-series, possibly my favorite comic book of all time. As Grant's autobiographical hero (who could stand in for you or me or anyone who loves comics) says "Clap your hands if you believe in superheroes!" I'm tellin' ya, you read this at the right time and in the right mood, and that ending will hit you like a thunderbolt. (And I'm still convinced that it could be true.)

6. Jiggs teaches Maggie that "it's good to be realistic" once in a while in "BRINGING BACK FATHER," maybe the darkest satire Harvey Kurtzman ever wrote, with masterful art from Will Elder and Bernie Krigstein (providing the "realistic" parts.)

7. The last scene in FROM HELL volume 2, after Netley and Gull take a terrifying (and real) tour of London's history, then Gull connects all their stops in a huge pentagram. "Oh god..." Netley says. "But not yours" Gull replies. Scariest moment in the whole series.

8. And finally (for now) this moment from WATCHMEN, a series full of great moments. Laurie inadvertantly convinces Dr. Manhattan that the world is worth saving after all. And, as if that weren't enough, we learn there's a smiley face on Mars. (And there really is, too.)